Written By : Siti Khadijah
PETALING JAYA: A trio of Pakatan Harapan (PH) lawmakers has urged the coalition to officially invite other opposition parties to join the pact.
Noting that opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s 105 votes by MPs were insufficient for the PKR president to be appointed prime minister after Muhyiddin Yassin stepped down last week, the trio said PH needs to maintain and strengthen the support it has garnered from other opposition parties.
“In this regard, we recommend that PH immediately send official invitations to all opposition parties, consisting of Warisan, MUDA, Pejuang, Upko and PSB, to join PH,” said the statement signed by PKR’s Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah, DAP’s Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh and senator Raj Munni Sabu, the Wanita PH deputy chief.
“The total support of 105 opposition MPs needs to be maintained and further refined in the form of a more formal understanding towards the next general election.”
They said the formalisation of the opposition’s relationship would convince all Malaysians that PH was the “most appropriate choice” to lead the country.
They also said the invitations would be in line with PH’s intention to build cooperation among the opposition parties according to the “big tent” framework.
In a statement yesterday after its meeting, the PH presidential council renewed its commitment to forging cooperation among opposition parties under the “big tent” concept.
“The effort to unite the opposition’s strength under a big tent must be given priority over political manoeuvrings exploited by certain parties to grab power and positions which are to the detriment of the country,” said the coalition’s top leaders – Anwar, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.
